Course Description

Riding the Cat's
Hill Course

Riding the
Course

The Cat's Hill is one of the toughest
races on the NorCal circuit. Unlike many criteriums,
Cat's Hill leaves no margin for error or tactical
lapse -- one missed shift, one moment of inattention,
and you can suddenly find yourself off the
back of the pack. The course itself is very
difficult, and there are very few points at
which the riders have the luxury of a moment's
relaxation. In places, the road surface is
extremely rough and it is possible to catch
a wheel and go down if you're not careful.

At the starting line, midway along Tait
Avenue, you will notice that many of the riders
are crowding the front row. They know that
it's important to start the Cat's Hill race
from the front, because the field always strings
out right from the gun -- there are very few
opportunities to advance your position as
the pack moves around the course.

From the start, each rider in the field
fights to get to the front before the Hill
on Nicholson to avoid the inevitable first-lap
traffic jam that comes at the start of the
climb. In addition to this fight, the riders
must watch for the pavement separation that
runs down the middle of Tait Avenue. This
separation, caused by the uplifting of the
cement slabs that form the street surface,
doesn't bother cars, but it will easily catch
a bicycle tire and possibly cause an inattentive
rider to fall.

A sweeping right turn onto Bean Street
200 meters from the start and a brief
100 meter stretch to another right turn brings
the racers onto Massol Avneue. Massol has
the same problem as Tait -- wheel-catching
roadbed separations. In 1978, National Champion
(more recently Shimano executive) Wayne Stetina
caught a wheel here, lost a tire, and ended
up chasing for quite a while before he was
able to regain the pack. But the separation
isn't the biggest problem on Massol. Making
a quick, accurate shift while turning 90 degrees
left onto the Nicholson Hill is.

The Nicholson Avenue hill (Cat's Hill)
is a gut-wrenching 23% climb. A "wall" in
bikie parlance. Being in the right gear and
exactly in gear are critical. Once you are
onto the hill, there is no chance to correct
a sloppy shift. The hill is so steep that
it's nearly impossible to change gears once
you've started climbing. When you hit the
hill, you are committed to climb in whatever
gear you're in. You'll find several riders
stopping each lap because of missed shifts
or thrown chains on this hill. Even if the
riders don't have problems with the shift,
they still have to make it to the top, 100
meters away. Knowing that they have to do
it many more times doesn't help.

How tough is it? Not bad if you only have
to do it once. And if you take just the right
line of approach, at speed. And if you shift
into exactly the right gear, and don't have
to avoid anybody on the way up. Unfortunately,
the riders typically have to do it 12, 15,
or 35 times. The field isn't exactly cooperative,
and sometimes you're not in exactly the right
gear, and somebody in front of you falls and
you have to maneuver around. Then it's lung-searing
misery. In the 1979 race, Jeff Stevenson ripped
the head tube from his Schwinn Paramount in
a final lunge at the Hill. The grade is sufficiently
steep that the riders have to distribute their
weight perfectly over the front and rear wheels.
If there's not enough weight over the front,
it will lift off the ground. Lean too far
forward, and the rear wheel slips out. It's
only about 25 pedal strokes, but each gets
tougher than the last.

At the top, your body aches for a moment
to relax. Now is the time to attack! Just
at the top, when everyone is hurting from
the hill, the strongest riders try to escape.
This is the best place on the course to move
up towards the front, make up for lost position,
or launch a successful attack. Nobody wants
to respond. They just want a second to recover.
Sometimes the stretch between the top of the
hill and the next turn is the toughest part
of the race.

Just before Nicholson intersects Belmont
Avenue there is a dip in the road (watch out
for the pothole). A comfortable banked right
onto Belmont, then a bit of a rise before
the fast descent.

Turning right onto Bachman Avenue, a combination
of rapid acceleration down the hill and a
narrowing roadway makes the riders a little
uneasy -- you wouldn't want to fall here,
on this pavement, at this speed. Bachman opens
up a little bit before a high-speed right
turn back onto Tait for the finishing straight.

And finally, the sprint. Coming through
the turn first doesn't ensure winning; the
finish line is too far away. However, it's
important to be in the first five or six,
because it's fast enough that the tenth rider
through the turn won't be able to make up
ground to beat the first rider to the finish.

The Cat's Hill
Race is challenging to ride, and great fun
to watch. Come see for yourself!